Eating For Health

We have all seen frail, elderly people who have seemed to have lost a lot of muscle.   But did you know that you start losing muscle long before you become elderly?   Studies have found that after the age of 30, yes 30, you begin to lose about 3-8% of your muscle mass per decade.   This loss accelerates after the age of 60.   Environmental Nutrition (April 2024) has a great article, “Preserving Muscle is a Key Part of Healthy Aging”.   But this information isn’t just for the elderly but for anyone who wants to preserve muscle mass.    What is sarcopenia? Sarcopenia is a fancy name for losing muscle and muscle strength as we age.   Building muscle requires your body to make muscle protein.   Unfortunately, our body’s ability to make muscle protein declines as we age.   Sarcopenia is more common in people over 60 and it affects both men and women.   Studies estimate about 5-13% of people over 60 have sarcopenia and up to “50%...

If you want to shed some pounds and some body fat should you lift weights or go for the aerobic classes?   Well new studies indicate the aerobic exercise is the best way to burn off the fat.   Researchers at Duke University compared the effects of aerobic exercise versus resistance training on body fat in overweight and obese adults ( Journal of Applied Physiology ). Many professionals have recommended both aerobic exercise and resistance training for weight loss:   Aerobic exercise to burn calories and fat and resistance training to build and maintain muscle mass which also increases a person’s metabolic rate.   In this study, 234 participants were overweight or obese (119 participants completed the study).   Researchers divided them into one of three exercise groups:                              ...